General Curtis E. LeMay, 5th Chief of Staff, United States Air Force

Air Force Doctrine Publication 1, The Air Force
6
Chapter 3 – WHAT WE DO AIRPOWER
DESCRIPTION OF AIRPOWER

Airpower is defined as the ability to project military power through control and
exploitation in, from and through the air. Elevation above the earth’s surface provides relative advantages and creates a mindset that sees competition from abroad perspective. The air domain allows Airmen to exploit airpower’s attributes of speed, range, precision, tempo, lethality, and adaptability to create effects in all domains. These attributes of airpower change the dynamics of competition in ways that enhance the effectiveness of joint forces through greater mobility and responsiveness. Airmen have an appreciation for airpower’s broad potential. Airmen do not view or study airpower as an auxiliary or complementary capability subordinate to another Service. Airmen view their expertise in the application of airpower as the main reason for the Services existence. The Air Force employs airpower to achieve JFC objectives and to complement other components of the joint force.
The attributes of airpower create effects throughout the operational environment and competition continuum. Airmen apply airpower by bypassing geographical limitations or striking with precision at critical vulnerabilities within adversary centers of gravity
(COGs) at long ranges, on short notice, and for sustained periods. Airpower can control the tempo of operations in our favor and leaders employ airpower in concert with all forms of military power. Airmen integrate capabilities across multiple domains to create effects in support of JFC objectives through joint all-domain operations. While all Services rely heavily on such integration, joint all-domain integration is fundamental to how Airmen employ airpower as part of the joint force. To enable convergence of effects in all domains, Airmen support JADO by conducting operations principally in, from, and through The air domain, defined as the atmosphere, beginning at the Earth’s surface, extending to the altitude where its effects upon operations become negligible The Information Environment (IE, which includes the cyberspace domain. The IE is the aggregate of individuals, organizations, and systems that collect, process,
Regardless of our respective ranks and positions, we
must execute to the best of our abilities and we must do
it right the first time because the application of airpower
is serious business where halfhearted efforts and
playing for second place are not options.

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